diff --git a/wal/failover_manager.go b/wal/failover_manager.go
index e452098145..6463795f71 100644
--- a/wal/failover_manager.go
+++ b/wal/failover_manager.go
@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@
 package wal
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble/internal/base"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/pebble/vfs"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/rand"
@@ -472,6 +475,25 @@ func (wm *failoverManager) init(o Options, initial Logs) error {
 		o.timeSource = defaultTime{}
 	}
 	o.FailoverOptions.EnsureDefaults()
+
+	// Synchronously ensure that we're able to write to the secondary before we
+	// proceed. An operator doesn't want to encounter an issue writing to the
+	// secondary the first time there's a need to failover. We write a bit of
+	// metadata to a file in the secondary's directory.
+	f, err := o.Secondary.FS.Create(o.Secondary.FS.PathJoin(o.Secondary.Dirname, "failover_source"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Newf("failed to write to WAL secondary dir: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := io.WriteString(f, fmt.Sprintf("primary: %s\nprocess start: %s\n",
+		o.Primary.Dirname,
+		time.Now(),
+	)); err != nil {
+		return errors.Newf("failed to write metadata to WAL secondary dir: %v", err)
+	}
+	if err := errors.CombineErrors(f.Sync(), f.Close()); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	stopper := newStopper()
 	var dirs [numDirIndices]dirAndFileHandle
 	for i, dir := range []Dir{o.Primary, o.Secondary} {
diff --git a/wal/failover_manager_test.go b/wal/failover_manager_test.go
index 784febd4c4..bf174add9d 100644
--- a/wal/failover_manager_test.go
+++ b/wal/failover_manager_test.go
@@ -582,6 +582,15 @@ func TestFailoverManager_Quiesce(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, m.Close())
 }
 
+func TestFailoverManager_SecondaryIsWritable(t *testing.T) {
+	var m failoverManager
+	require.EqualError(t, m.init(Options{
+		Primary:         Dir{FS: vfs.NewMem(), Dirname: "primary"},
+		Secondary:       Dir{FS: errorfs.Wrap(vfs.NewMem(), errorfs.ErrInjected), Dirname: "secondary"},
+		PreallocateSize: func() int { return 4 },
+	}, nil /* initial  logs */), "failed to write to WAL secondary dir: injected error")
+}
+
 // TODO(sumeer): test wrap around of history in dirProber.
 
 // TODO(sumeer): the failover datadriven test cases are not easy to write,
diff --git a/wal/testdata/manager_failover b/wal/testdata/manager_failover
index cd0b324a95..6ce45be820 100644
--- a/wal/testdata/manager_failover
+++ b/wal/testdata/manager_failover
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ ok
 list-fs
 ----
 pri/000001.log
+sec/failover_source
 
 create-writer wal-num=2
 ----
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ list-fs
 ----
 pri/000001.log
 pri/000002.log
+sec/failover_source
 
 close-manager
 ----
@@ -353,6 +355,7 @@ list-fs
 pri/000001-002.log
 pri/000002.log
 sec/000001-001.log
+sec/failover_source
 
 # Test with dampening of switching based on latency and secondary errors.
 #
@@ -417,6 +420,7 @@ now: 77ms
 
 list-fs
 ----
+sec/failover_source
 
 # Wait until monitor sees the error and switches back to primary.
 advance-time dur=75ms wait-monitor wait-prober
@@ -542,6 +546,7 @@ list-fs
 pri/000001-002.log
 pri/000001-004.log
 pri/000001.log
+sec/failover_source
 
 # Test failback after primary is healthy.
 init-manager inject-errors=((ErrInjected (And Writes (PathMatch "*/000001.log"))))
@@ -664,6 +669,7 @@ list-fs
 pri/000001-002.log
 pri/probe-file
 sec/000001-001.log
+sec/failover_source
 
 # Test that if UnhealthyOperationLatencyThreshold says not to allow failovers
 # yet, failover doesn't occur even if the primary errors.
@@ -704,3 +710,4 @@ ok
 
 list-fs
 ----
+sec/failover_source